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- Nov 7, 2010
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[h=1]Kenya Airports Authority staff down tools over pay[/h]
Kenya Airports Authority staff stage a protest the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi April 6, 2012. The workers went on a countrywide strike demanding a pay increase. BILLY MUTAI
By BENJAMIN MUINDI, bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, April 6 2012 at 12:36
About 1,300 Kenya Airports Authority staff went on a countrywide strike Friday demanding a pay increase.
Aviation and Allied Workers Union secretary general Nicholas Baraza said the strike was called after their employer failed to implement a new pay structure two weeks ago.
We have been patiently waiting since October last year when the last collective bargaining agreement (2010/2011) expired, Mr Baraza said at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Friday.
He was accompanied by airport staff including ground operators, fire fighters, security officers, flight controllers and engineers among others.
Mr Baraza said they were pushing for a 25 per cent pay increase but the employer had only offered them 9 per cent.
Given the high rate of inflation in the country, we cannot take the offer, he said as union members assembled near the airports parking bay.
But KAA managing director Stephen Gichuki said the strike was illegal following a court order issued on Thursday.
All scheduled flights have taken off and landed on time. We do not foresee any disruption of operations at any Kenyan Airport, Mr Gichuki said.
He said a significant number of unionisable workers had reported on duty despite being intimidated by those who are on this illegal strike".
Adequate staff have been positioned at all areas including security screening , fire services, ground flight safety and engineering maintenance in addition to government security agencies who ordinarily operate at all our airports are supplanting the various services.
Police officers drawn from the airport base and General Service Unit watched from a distance as the workers addressed the media.
However, the strike did not unduly disrupt operations at the airport.
Mr Baraza said the strike also took off in other airports countrywide Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Wajir.
There are reports that a plane could not land at the Kisumu International Airport, he said.
The strike comes at a time when aircraft activity (landings and take-offs) increased from 195,000 in 2008 to 335,000 in 2010/2011, representing a 72 per cent increase, according to officials.
source
By BENJAMIN MUINDI, bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, April 6 2012 at 12:36
About 1,300 Kenya Airports Authority staff went on a countrywide strike Friday demanding a pay increase.
Aviation and Allied Workers Union secretary general Nicholas Baraza said the strike was called after their employer failed to implement a new pay structure two weeks ago.
We have been patiently waiting since October last year when the last collective bargaining agreement (2010/2011) expired, Mr Baraza said at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Friday.
He was accompanied by airport staff including ground operators, fire fighters, security officers, flight controllers and engineers among others.
Mr Baraza said they were pushing for a 25 per cent pay increase but the employer had only offered them 9 per cent.
Given the high rate of inflation in the country, we cannot take the offer, he said as union members assembled near the airports parking bay.
But KAA managing director Stephen Gichuki said the strike was illegal following a court order issued on Thursday.
All scheduled flights have taken off and landed on time. We do not foresee any disruption of operations at any Kenyan Airport, Mr Gichuki said.
He said a significant number of unionisable workers had reported on duty despite being intimidated by those who are on this illegal strike".
Adequate staff have been positioned at all areas including security screening , fire services, ground flight safety and engineering maintenance in addition to government security agencies who ordinarily operate at all our airports are supplanting the various services.
Police officers drawn from the airport base and General Service Unit watched from a distance as the workers addressed the media.
However, the strike did not unduly disrupt operations at the airport.
Mr Baraza said the strike also took off in other airports countrywide Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Wajir.
There are reports that a plane could not land at the Kisumu International Airport, he said.
The strike comes at a time when aircraft activity (landings and take-offs) increased from 195,000 in 2008 to 335,000 in 2010/2011, representing a 72 per cent increase, according to officials.
source
